Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Technical contact: Roberta Getman, (507) 280-2996 Media contact: Nancy Miller, (507) 280-3590 ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The city of New Ulm and MR Paving and Excavating Inc. of New Ulm will pay a $10,000 penalty for stormwater violations that resulted in a discharge to the Minnesota River. Both parties will also take actions to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future. In September of 2005, stormwater from the Lakeside Village construction site in New Ulm entered open manholes at the property causing the sanitary sewer system to overflow. The overflow resulted in nearly 97,000 gallons of combined sediment-laden stormwater and untreated sewage entering the Minnesota River. An inspection by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff at the construction site revealed several violations of Minnesota rules governing stormwater management. To prevent similar violations at other sites, the city of New Ulm and MR Paving and Excavating are to develop a plan to prevent future sanitary overflows resulting from construction activities. In addition, staff representing both entities must attend training on erosion and sediment control site management to better understand and implement Minnesota construction stormwater rules. When calculating penalties and enforcement options, MPCA staff take into account how seriously violations affect the environment, whether they are first time or repeat violations and how promptly the regulated party reports violations to appropriate authorities. For a comprehensive list of enforcement actions taken by the MPCA, refer to the agency Web site at/newscenter/enforcement.html.